If you’re interested in learning about Cistercian spirituality, contemplation, silence, meditation, and/or the monastic life, here are a few books to get you started:
The Rule of Saint Benedict in English, Timothy Fry, editor. Liturgical Press, 2016.
This is our foundational text.
Not all of it applies to our lives today – for example, we’re not monks or nuns, and we don’t need to be told how to dress before we undertake a journey on foot – but many of its essential biblical principles can be adapted to our lives.
Casey, Michael, OCSO. Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology.
Liguiri, MO: Liguori/Triumph, 2004
de Waal, Esther. The Way of Simplicity: The Cistercian Tradition. Cistercian Publications, 2010
Louf, Andre, OCSO. The Cistercian Way, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1989
Merton, Thomas. New Seeds of Contemplation. New York, New York. Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc. 1961
Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. San Francisco, California. HarperOne, 2003
Merton, Thomas. The Waters of Siloe: New York: Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1949
Pennington, M. Basil. Bernard of Clairvaux. A Lover Teaching the Way of Love. New City Press, 1997
Pennington, M. Basil. The Cistercians. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1992
Pennington, M. Basil. A School of Love: The Cistercian Way to Holiness. Morehouse Publishing Co., 2001
Sommerfeldt, John. The Spiritual Teachings of Bernard of Clairvaux. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1991
Tamburello, Dennis E. Bernard of Clairvaux: Essential Writings. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Co.
The Golden Epistle –William of St Thierry –Cistercian Fathers Series #12 –Cistercian Publications –Kalamazoo, MI